Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a politically conservative association of physicians, medical professionals and students, patients and others,^[1] founded in 1943.^[2] According to the AAPS's website, the organization is "dedicated to the highest ethical standards of the Oath of Hippocrates and to preserving the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and the practice of private medicine",^[3] and to "supporting the principles of the free market in medical practice."^[1] The motto of the AAPS is omnia pro aegroto which means "all for the patient."

The group had approximately 4,000 members in 2005.^[4] Notable members include Ron Paul and John Cooksey.^[5] The executive director is Jane Orient, professor of clinical medicine at the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.

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Positions

A 1966 article in the New York Times described the organization as an "ultra-right-wing... political-economic rather than medical" group, and asserted that historically some of its leaders had been members of the John Birch Society.^[6][7]

Currently, the organization opposes mandatory vaccination,^[8] universal health care^[9] and government intervention in healthcare.^[10] The AAPS has characterized the effects of the Social Security Act of 1965, which established Medicare and Medicaid, and socialized medicine as "evil" and "immoral",^[11] and encouraged members to avoid participating in Medicare and Medicaid.^[12][13] AAPS believes that there is no right to medical care, and opposes efforts to implement a national health plan.^[14] The organization also opposes the use of evidence-based medicine and practice guidelines as a usurpation of physician autonomy.^[15]

AAPS opposes abortion^[16] and over-the-counter access to emergency contraception.^[17]

AAPS helped appeal the conviction of Virginia internist William Hurwitz, who was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for prescribing excessive quantities of narcotic drugs after 16 former patients testified against him.^[18] Hurwitz was granted a retrial in 2006, and his 25-year prison sentence was reduced to 57 months.^[19]

In 2004, AAPS filed a brief on behalf of Rush Limbaugh.^[20] In 1975, they went to court to block enforcement of a new Social Security amendment that would monitor the treatment given Medicare and Medicaid patients.^[21] More recently, they have been involved in litigation against HIPAA, arguing that it is violates the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution by allowing government access to certain medical data without a warrant.^[22] In 2006 the group called attention to sham peer review.^[23]

Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons

The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (JPandS), until 2003 named the Medical Sentinel,^[24][25] is the journal of the association. Its mission statement includes "… a commitment to publishing scholarly articles in defense of the practice of private medicine, the pursuit of integrity in medical research … Political correctness, dogmatism and orthodoxy will be challenged with logical reasoning, valid data and the scientific method." Articles in the journal are subject to a double-blind peer-review process.^[26]

Some past articles and commentaries published in the journal have argued:

• that the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are unconstitutional,^[27]
• that "humanists" have conspired to replace the "creation religion of Jehovah" with evolution,^[28]
• that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has not caused global warming,^[29]
• that HIV does not cause AIDS,^[30]
• that the "gay male lifestyle" shortens life expectancy by 20 years.^[31]

A series of articles by pro-life authors published in the journal argued for the existence of a link between abortion and breast cancer;^[32][33] such a link has been rejected by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the mainstream scientific community.^[34][35]

The journal is not listed in the major literature databases of MEDLINE/PubMed^[36] nor the Web of Science.^[37] The World Health Organization found that a 2003 article on vaccination published in the journal had "a number of limitations which undermine the conclusions drawn by the authors."^[38]

Quackwatch lists JPandS as an untrustworthy, non-recommended periodical.^[39]

Investigative journalist Brian Deer wrote that the journal is the "house magazine of a right-wing American fringe group [AAPS]" and "is barely credible as an independent forum."^[40]

AAPS vs Clinton

In 1993, the AAPS, along with several other groups, filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and Donna Shalala‎ over closed-door meetings related to the 1993 Clinton health care plan. The AAPS sued to gain access to the list of members of President Clinton's health care taskforce. Judge Royce C. Lamberth found in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded $285,864 to the AAPS for legal costs; Lamberth also harshly criticized the Clinton administration and Clinton aide Ira Magaziner in his ruling.^[41] Subsequently, a federal appeals court overturned the award and the initial findings on the basis that Magaziner and the administration had not acted in bad faith.^[42]

References